


I'm Under Pressure Cause I Can't Have You the Way That I Want

by VoidEtheria



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Comfort, F/M, percabeth, pre-dating angst, pre-tlo, sally and percy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:41:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23998465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VoidEtheria/pseuds/VoidEtheria
Summary: Percy feels helpless because of the rough patch he and Annabeth are going through. Thankfully Sally Jackson is there to help. Pre-dating, Pre-tlo
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Comments: 1
Kudos: 47





	I'm Under Pressure Cause I Can't Have You the Way That I Want

Sally Jackson was setting the table for dinner when she heard noise coming from her son's room.

“Ugh will you get your head out of that book.” Percy whined resting his head on his best friend's shoulder.

“Hm nope.” Annabeth replied. Percy grabbed her arm, this time slightly shaking it.

“You came all this way Annabeth! Pay attention to me!”

“Oh the same way you paid attention to me on my birthday?” Annabeth huffed with a smile. She meant it as a joke but as soon as the words left her mouth, the air between them grew thick.  
When Percy bolted upright, Annabeth understood the severity of her words. Wrong timing? Yes. But was she lying? No, not really. 

_____

If their relationship was on the rocks before, Annabeth’s 16th birthday was the tip of the iceberg. She had excitedly IMed her best friend as he never left her disappointed on her birthday. Her expectations came crashing down when she was greeted to Percy and Rachel sitting on a couch together laughing and throwing popcorn into each other’s mouths. Annabeth doesn’t think she’ll ever forget how her throat closed up and burned at the sight. Percy's eyes met hers through the IM and went wide.

“Hey Annabeth!” His voice was desperate as he tried to make everything seem fine. Rachel seemed to notice the tension and subtly tried to move away from her view.

“Um...happy birthday!” Percy said though it sounded more like a question. He nervously scratched the back of his neck.

“Wait I’m sor-!” Was the last thing Annabeth heard before slashing her hand through the Iris Message and cutting off the connection.

At times like that, Annabeth was thankful for her siblings. When she walked out of her bunk with tears in her eyes, all of her eleven siblings seemed to rush to her at once. The pain was still there of course but Annabeth thankfully made it out of her cabin that morning with a smile on her face

Annabeth's popularity at camp also seemed to work in her favor that day. She almost seemed to forget about the incident entirely when her entire Ancient Greek class sang her happy birthday as soon as she walked in. It was like Chiron’s soft and fatherly smile put a bandage on the internal wound for the rest of the day.  
Unfortunately the bandage was painfully ripped off when none other than Percy Jackson was sitting at the empty Athena table with a blue cupcake in hand. She stopped abruptly, glaring daggers at him but Percy just sheepishly smiled.

“Happy birthday Annabeth” he said with complete sincerity she had only heard a few times

“What do you want.” she growled. Probably not the best answer but he had put a damper on her birthday.

“To wish my best friend a happy birthday.” his smile fell.

Annabeth sauntered over to him and grabbed the cupcake, setting it down on the table behind him.

“You can leave now.”

“I-I just wanted to make sure you had a good birthday.”

“No thanks to you.” Percy opened his mouth to respond when Annabeth interjected.

“Just go.” she said this time softly. The hurt in her voice was enough to send Percy away.

Percy walked off camp grounds, glancing at her wistfully one last time and Annabeth angrily ate her blue cupcake thanking Sally Jackson in her mind.

____

“Annabeth I’m still sorry about tha-“ Percy stared at her with remorseful eyes that Annabeth hated to look at.

“Don’t worry it’s ok.” She forced a smile. It was true for the most part. As the war was approaching she began to let go of the little things though it still stung. Percy unfortunately knew her too well and realized when she was faking a smile. His eyes still bore into her with regret and she couldn’t meet his gaze.

“Annabeth-“

“Hey I shouldn’t have brought it up! My mistake. Besides it’s late I should get going.” When Annabeth stood up and grabbed her bag, Percy caught her arm again

“No please!-“

“I have to leave Percy.” And there was that fake smile again that Percy could see right through. She didn’t have to leave. They both knew it.

Sally nearly dropped the salt shaker when Percy's door flung open.

“Annabeth?” Sally wasn’t expecting to see her out so soon.

“Hey Sally! I’m so sorry I can’t stay for dinner! Something came up!” The two quickly went in for a tight embrace. She was the closest thing Sally had to a daughter after all.

“Aw sweetie are you sure? Paul and Percy would love to have you!” When she looked at her son's face, she finally connected the dots. Something had happened between them.

“Yeah we would...” Percy whispered, staring at the floor with his arms crossed.

“Yes I’m sorry I have to go. Have a great night Sally.”

“Oh you too sweetie!” And before she knew it Annabeth was out the door. When Sally turned back around, Percy dramatically fell onto the couch and held a pillow to his face to muffle his yell.

“Gods!” Percy exclaimed when she made her way over to him.

Percy took the pillow off his face and he was met with his mother sitting on the floor across him.

“I knew you guys were fighting but I thought you two fixed things...” he could tell she was trying to keep the tone light but it wasn’t working.

“Gods my life sucks right now.” Percy sprawled on the couch looking up at the ceiling.

“Cmon it’s not that bad! You two care about each other! Besides you have Rachel.”

“I don’t wanna hear her name right now.” Percy dug the heels of his palms into his eyes.

“I thought you guys were friends!”

“We are! It’s just- ever since she showed up, me and Annabeth have been having problems.”

“I see...” This wasn’t anything new to Sally of course. She had noticed how her son looked at the daughter of Athena for years now and how he’d blush if she brought up her name. Still, this was confirmation she had never gotten before. But even Sally had to admit, when Rachel came along those lines seemed to blur a bit. She had to tease if she wanted some answers.

“I thought you liked Rachel...you know...like that.”

Percy let out a deep sigh and sat up to look at his mother.

“I considered her, i'm not gonna lie...but something with her is...I don’t know...missing?” Sally’s eyes twinkled at this. She’ll always have a soft spot for Annabeth in her heart.

“Ah.”

“It’s just- ugh! I don’t know. I feel great with Rachel but Annabeth makes me feel...something else mom.”

“You guys have been through a lot together.”

“Not just that. I mean, I just get this weird feeling in my gut when I’m with Annabeth that I don’t get with Rachel...”

“I know what you mean baby.” Their eyes met and she smiled.

“Annabeth makes me feel...complete in a weird way,” He let out a deep sigh. Sally took a breath remembering how she fell in love with Paul.

“...so I guess that means something. And I guess I can’t be with anyone else if that's how I see Annabeth...” At this, Sally cupped her son's face.

“I’m so glad you two have each other.” 

“I keep messing up mom. You saw the way she stormed out!” he said exasperatedly pointing at the door.

“Trust the process baby. You’ll get what you want.”

“How do you know....”  
She smiled at this and kissed his forehead. “Let’s just call it mom intuition.”

**Author's Note:**

> pre tlo angst for the soul lol. loved writing this and let me know what you think!  
> 


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